This disclosure relates to a cutter head for a mining machine, and more particularly, to a mechanism for delivering power to the cutter head of a mining apparatus, such as a continuous miner.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional mining machine 10 includes a main frame 12 supported for movement or propulsion relative to the ground by means of crawler or caterpillar assemblies 14, one on each side of the mining machine. The crawler assemblies 14 are powered by electric or hydraulic motors (not shown) carried on the frame 12 in a manner well known in the art.
The mining machine 10 also includes a means, generally designated by reference numeral 16, for cutting an opening in and winning aggregate material from the mineral seam. More particularly, the cutting and winning means 16 is carried on the forward end of a boom 20 that is pivotally mounted to the frame 12. The cutting drum assembly 18 includes a series of picks 19 for ripping, breaking or cutting aggregate material from the mineral seam for subsequent recovery.
The boom 20 includes a bulkhead 21 that interconnects a pair of spaced, lateral arms 22, each arm being pivotally mounted to the frame through a trunnion (not shown). A pair of hydraulic actuators 24 allows the selective angular positioning of the boom 20 relative to the frame 12. Thus, the boom 20 and, therefore, the cutting drum assembly 18 may be raised and lowered as the mining machine 10 is advanced into the mineral seam so that aggregate material is cut from the full vertical dimension of the seam. This material is collected in an underlying loading shovel 26 and delivered into a twin chain conveyor 28 for subsequent recovery in a manner known in the art. Each arm 22 carries one motor 30 and a cooperating gear case 32 (see FIG. 2) to drive the cutting drum assembly 18. The gear case 32 includes webs 34 that connect the cutting drum assembly 18 to the bulkhead of the boom 20. The webs 34 are the portion of the gear case 32 that connects the actual cutting drums to the cutting boom and therefore to the rest of the machine.
One common mode of failure of the above conventional continuous miner is crushing of the webs. Not only do these webs have to handle large forces from the cutting of materials, they traditionally need to provide for a means of transmitting mechanical power from cutting motors to the cutting drum. This power transmission is usually accomplished through a complex set of gears and shafts that run through the web, as shown in FIG. 2. To allow for this power transmission, the webs 34 must have much of their material machined away, thereby greatly reducing the overall strength of the web. In certain circumstances, when a piece of material or broken cutter bit gets jammed against these webs, it can cause the webs to crush in. When this occurs, the web material may come into contact with the shafts or gears that are running through the web, causing failure of the machine.